Valley residents: Jobs safe, life good

John L. MicekOf The Morning Call

Most Lehigh Valley residents believe their jobs are safe, their pocketbooks are secure, and that life in the region is looking up, the second annual Morning Call/Muhlenberg College Quality of Life Poll has found.

But the Valley is an oasis of optimism in a state where many people are deeply nervous about the economy, unnerved by mounting American losses in Iraq, and unsure whether they'll still have a job by year's end. The Valley's views run about 10 percentage points higher than statewide measures.

Nine of 10 Lehigh and Northampton county residents find the region to be a good place to live and raise a family, the survey shows. Just 9 percent give the area a negative rating.

Fifty-four percent of respondents rated the Valley's economy good or excellent  an 11 percentage point improvement over 2003. The number of those who said the local economy is not so good or poor fell 13 percent.

''I think the doing very well,'' said Nancy Hoffman, a teacher and mother of three from Macungie who took the poll and agreed to be interviewed afterward. ''We have new companies coming in, and I'm very grateful that my children have summer jobs.''

That confidence has foundation. According to state data made public last month, the number of jobs in the Lehigh Valley swelled by 2,100 in April  the third straight month of gains. First-time jobless claims, meanwhile, were at their lowest ebb since October 2000, while continued unemployment claims reached their lowest point since autumn 2001.

Still, just a single percentage point (39 percent to 38 percent) separated those who think the Lehigh Valley is heading in the wrong direction from those who think it's on the right path.

Respondent Michael Recchiuti lives in Bethlehem and practices law in Allentown. Although work is widely available, he said new jobs are mainly in low-paying service industries. ''They're not the high-paying manufacturing jobs people grew up with around here.''

That mix of opinion is not unexpected, said Christopher Borick, director of Muhlenberg's Institute of Public Opinion, which conducted the poll. Pennsylvania is just beginning to share in the emerging nationwide recovery, he said, and it takes time for people to catch up.

''Last year, to put it pretty clearly, people were pessimistic,'' Borick said. ''What you see this year is not a full reversal, but there's clearly some erosion . People are coming around.''

Several recent national polls have shown that the economy remains at the top of voters' list of concerns. And questions of job loss and economic recovery, they agree, will play a pivotal role in the outcome of this year's presidential race between Democrat John F. Kerry and Republican George W. Bush. Pennsylvania is among 20 or fewer states expected to determine that outcome, and the Lehigh Valley is a microcosm of the state.

Muhlenberg pollsters sampled the opinions of 501 Valley residents on topics ranging from their satisfaction with their family relationships to their thoughts on the region's crime rate. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points. The annual snapshot, taken from April 28 to May 14, is designed to show how residents' views on core issues evolve over a period of years.

What emerged from those conversations was a portrait of a bustling region that outpaces the rest of the state in optimism, and where concerns that only take precedence during times of prosperity  traffic, the environment and the pace of development  are moving to the forefront of the public's consciousness.

Sixty-seven percent of local poll respondents, unlike their compatriots statewide, said they were either not too concerned or not at all concerned about losing their jobs in the coming year.

Meanwhile, 82 percent of local respondents said they were satisfied with their income and 72 percent said they were satisfied with their current jobs. Job satisfaction rose 6 percentage points over last year.

Stability in the workplace translated into happiness on the home front as well. Ninety-eight percent of respondents to this year's poll said they were satisfied with their family relationships, up slightly from 94 percent in 2003.

''We all muddle through life, but when you have paycheck confidence, for lack of a better term, it's all related,'' said Amy Miller, a businesswoman and mother of two from Whitehall Township. ''A certain level of confidence in your life translates to everything else.''

Despite constant warnings about the dangers of obesity and other public health risks, 90 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with their personal health, down from the 92 percent last year.

Lehigh Valley residents also think they have plenty of chances for recreation (80 percent), have access to quality health care (86 percent), have enough downtime (71 percent) and that local schools are doing a good job educating their children (70 percent).

A slight majority of residents (52 percent) expressed satisfaction with transportation in the Valley, compared to 40 percent who gave it low marks.

When asked about environmental issues, 74 percent gave excellent or good ratings to the local environment, compared to 24 percent who said it was not so good or poor.

Despite those overall good feelings, a slight majority of those polled expressed concerns about the air quality in their community (56 percent). Respondents were split, 50 percent to 48 percent, over the safety of local drinking water supplies.

''There's a lot of development in Macungie,'' said Hoffman, the teacher. ''The Little Lehigh Creek is a good source of natural drinking water. I truly believe they are developing too fast and not doing enough with the runoff.''

And although national and state crime rates are dropping, and an overwhelming majority (92 percent) of residents are satisfied with public safety in their neighborhoods, 50 percent of those who responded to the poll said they were concerned about becoming a crime victim. Women and city dwellers are most concerned.

But not Betsy Zwick, a retired switchboard operator from Easton. Although she said drugs are an issue in her neighborhood, ''there's really no problems as far as violence is concerned,'' she said.

john.micek@mcall.com

717-783-7305

Nathan Crabbe, a summer intern for the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents Association, contributed to this story.